


Stronger Together

by Neverever



Category: Marvel Ultimates
Genre: Developing Relationship, Hospitals, Injury, M/M, Pastiche, Protective Steve, Secret Marriage, lawsuit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: Steve has to fight on new battlegrounds to save Tony when Tony is terribly injured in a fight and it's revealed that they're secretly married.





	Stronger Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SirSapling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirSapling/gifts).
  * Inspired by [RBB 2018 Art For: Team Prime](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889705) by [SirSapling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirSapling/pseuds/SirSapling). 



> This story was inspired by SirSapling's wonderful wonderful art. SirSapling was a fantastic partner and thanks for the inspiration! Check out the art here: [On AO3.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889705)
> 
> Check out Magicasen's story for the same art: [Every Chance We'll Have](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889659/chapters/34483487)
> 
> (This is bit of an Ultimates pastiche, not exactly set in any particular timeline.)
> 
> Thanks to arms_plutonic for all the beta work.

Steve knew what to do in a hospital. You act politely, have things to read while you wait, and listen when the doctors and nurses talk to you. He just wasn’t prepared for seeing Tony hooked up to every possible machine in existence. Or for hoping with his whole heart that Tony would wake the hell up soon.

They allowed him to be in Tony’s room in the ICU. So Steve sat in his torn and battle-damaged uniform with a leather messenger bag full of books at his feet. He had a book on his lap -- he didn’t even know what he was reading, it was just something he shoved into the bag -- and watched Tony shallowly breathe in and out.

He knew he was playing a child’s game. If he saw Tony breathe, then Tony wouldn’t stop breathing. Because Steve had no idea what he was going to do if Tony died.

It was all on Tony now to fight his way back to life.

Steve took a deep breath and went back to his book. He had oceans of patience, he was designed for endurance, and no one was going to dare ask him to move. He pushed the messenger bag further under his seat and heard the clink of his money clip as it fell on the vinyl tile of the floor.

That morning, he’d had a fight with Tony before the accident. It was silly and stupid and petty. And now it hurt Steve to no end to think that his last words with Tony were an argument over his new money clip. Steve’s old clip had worn out and he brought a new one, plain and solid silver. He’d left it in a box on the kitchen table where Tony discovered it. 

Tony held up the offensive object in his right hand. “Who uses money these days, Steve?” he scoffed.

“I do.” 

“Let me buy you something better that doesn’t look like you got it out of a vending machine.”

“No.”

Steve could feel the tension rise. There was too much going on -- construction still underway on the new gym in their apartment, Steve constantly irritated at things at SHIELD and things he’d read in the morning newspaper, Tony with his slate of problems at Stark International. All they needed was a little tinder for a huge, pointless argument.

Then the call came in for the team, interrupting the shouting. Three hours later, Tony was crushed by a collapsing building and rushed to the hospital.

The doctors hemmed and hawed, reluctant to give Steve unreasonable hope about Tony’s chances. He sat, twiddled his thumbs, and tamped down a rising anger, paired with a feeling of helplessness, as best as he could. For all the supposed miracles of the century, no one could promise him what he wanted most in the world -- Tony, awake, alert and on his way home.

Tony lay there in the bed, eyes closed and face pale. Steve could feel him fighting against whatever was keeping him in the coma.

It had been six hours since they wheeled Tony out of surgery and into the ICU. Steve hadn’t given much thought at all to anyone who wasn’t named Tony or wasn’t involved in his immediate care.

“Captain Rogers? Gregory Stark is insisting on seeing his brother,” a hospital administrator said.

While Tony had been in surgery, Steve had handled the admissions paperwork like a champ and made a couple of calls to Tony’s main lawyer and to his and Tony’s new personal assistant Friday. Friday would hold the fort at home and the lawyer herd would fend off any craziness attempted while Tony was incapacitated. All Steve was left to do was worry and fret over Tony and recite Tony’s medical history when prompted.

“No.” Steve shook his head tightly.

The administrator looked at her tablet. “We don’t have a list of who can see Mr. Stark and who can’t.”

Steve reached for the tablet because Tony’s guest list was a simple decision. Thor: Yes. Clint: When Tony left ICU. Jan, Wanda, Pietro: If Tony remained in the hospital, maybe, maybe not, depending. Gregory? No way in hell. He wrote down a few more names, all of them on a case-by-case basis.

“Um, Gregory Stark is extremely agitated and demanding. He’s asking for information about Tony saying he has a right as his only living relative.”

“Tell him he can talk to Tony’s lawyer.” Steve was in no mood to deal with Gregory or Gregory’s shenanigans. Tony paid his lawyers a hell of a lot of money to make his life run smoothly; they could handle Gregory. A social worker told Steve later that hospital security had to remove Gregory from the hospital premises.

Steve took a break to tank up on food. Somehow Gregory discovered that Steve had a cell phone. He stood in the cafeteria line reading Gregory’s increasingly angry texts. 

\-- What do you mean you’re married? -- 

\-- The lawyers have that information. -- Steve texted back.

The reply came back instantaneously. -- There is no way this marriage is legal. No one knows you are married. No one’s heard a single rumor you are married. I will prove it. --

Steve deleted the texts. Gregory could fume and rage and complain all he wanted. But his marriage to Tony was legal and indisputable. Steve smiled for the first time that day at the simple gold ring on his left hand as he handed money to the cashier. 

Married. To Tony Stark. In sickness or health. In alien invasion or supervillain crime spree. ‘Til death did them part. Gregory could shove it where the sun don’t shine.

~~~~~

Steve laid sprawled out on the bed, Tony next to him propped on one elbow, tracing a figure through Steve’s chest hair. Sweat was cooling on Steve’s skin, his hair plastered to his face, while the glow of neon light filtered through the window. He felt boneless and had no motivation to think or want to be anywhere else but right there next to Tony.

“What are you thinking about?” Tony teased.

“Nothing,” Steve said, his mouth curving into a smile.

Tony leaned down and kissed Steve on the forehead. “I promised you the honeymoon sex would be amazing.”

They’d been married eleven hours. Steve ran his fingers up and down Tony’s arm. He hadn’t totally processed yet how they had gotten from the ‘we should get married’ conversation two nights ago to the ‘let’s elope’ discussion last night to being here in a lavish Vegas honeymoon suite with Tony.

It was a compromise -- something simple for Steve in a place of Tony’s choosing. During the plane flight, Tony had showed Steve a number of wedding packages at Tony’s favorite casino, the Cosmopolitan. Tony liked the advertising about non-traditional weddings and Steve gritted his teeth at the supposedly trendy decor. They opted for the 1:00 pm wedding with a couple of witnesses (hotel management) in a luxury wedding suite in the depths of the large sprawling casino, complete with flowers, pictures, a fancy dinner and a private poolside cabana. 

Steve carried Tony over the threshold of their penthouse suite. 

“You didn’t have to do that, darling,” Tony said as he slipped out of Steve’s arms. He turned and planted a kiss on Steve’s cheek. “Room service or down to the pool? I vote pool.”

The pool was hours ago and now Tony rolled off the bed to pour another glass of champagne. “Oh, wait.” He set the glass down on a table. He reached for his phone, tossed carelessly on the couch. 

He scanned the slightly crumpled marriage license into his phone. “We’ll need that someday,” he said. He hit send. “The lawyers will keep this safe.”

Steve propped himself on his side to watch Tony. He frowned. “We said that we’d keep this between us.”

“I know, I know,” Tony replied with a wave of his hand. “But what if something happened to you? I just made a vow to be there for you. There’d be scientists lined up for miles for the first crack at your body --”

“I get it.” Steve didn’t want to think about the world and all the horrible, grasping people in it beyond the walls of their suite. “Come back to bed.”

“You’ll exhaust me.” Tony laughed wickedly. He retrieved his glass of champagne and bounced on the bed. “Would you mind terribly if I wore a wedding ring?”

The agreement was that they were not going to tell anyone that didn’t absolutely, positively need to know they were married. Tony’s lawyer herd was one thing. This was something else. “People will know that you’re married.”

“No, people will _speculate_ that I’m married and I’ll get to do ‘am-I-married-or-not’ guessing games with reporters.” Tony sipped his champagne. “It’ll drive them crazy.”

“Why wear a ring?”

“I want something that says that I’m yours when I look at it. I’d suggest matching finger tattoos, but who knows if you can even be tattooed. And that’s before you have a heart attack over the idea.”

Steve sucked in a deep breath. “A tattoo would make sense. A ring can get caught on machinery or debris and rip the finger off in the right circumstances.”

“Well -- I do have an artist in mind --”

But having something that said he belonged to someone and that people would know that he belonged to someone when they saw the ring gained traction in Steve’s mind. No one needed to know the facts and details and arrangements of his life with Tony. But they would know that Steve had a special someone. 

A special someone. His life back on track. A hook into the future. 

“Do you think we could get rings here?”

Tony nearly choked from laughing hard. “Honey, we can get anything in Vegas.” He kissed Steve again and tangled up their fingers. “We’ll go for breakfast in the morning and look at the options.”

Steve’s head spun at the number of jewelry stores within reasonable (for Tony) walking distance of their room. Tony cooed over the most expensive and Steve balked until they gave up shopping. The concierge suggested a small locally owned shop a short car ride away.

Outside the Strip, Las Vegas was relentlessly depressing with its stretches of indistinguishable strip malls, concrete walls and asphalt streets. Tony grumbled about the ride until the town car pulled up in front of the jewelers. “Hope this is worth it. I liked the first place.”

“The guy showed us a tray of rings that cost more than a dozen small countries,” Steve said. 

“But they were very pretty --”

“And not practical.”

A large grandmotherly woman greeted them when they came in. Tony, obviously not expecting much from the modest store, asked to see the men’s rings.

“Military?” she asked Steve.

“Yes, retired,” Steve replied automatically. 

“Then you’ll like these. We have a lot of military customers and these rings are popular.” She showed Steve a tray of beautiful plain gold rings. 

Steve knew immediately which one he liked. Not a sentimental man by any stretch of the imagination, he still choked up a bit when the clerk put the ring in his hand. He would wear this ring until he died and he’d think of Tony every time he saw it. 

As if reading his mind, Tony gently put a hand on his shoulder. “This is it, isn’t it?”

Steve nodded. And Tony lifted the ring off his palm. “With this ring --” he started as he slipped the ring on Steve’s finger. It fit perfectly, like it had been made for him. 

“We’ll take this one and that one,” Tony said.

“Engraving?” the clerk asked.

“No, and no boxes -- we’ll wear them,” Tony replied.

In the car, Tony sat hip to shoulder with Steve, who was looking at their hands with their new rings. He leaned over to whisper into Steve’s ear, “I can’t wait to give you the handjob of your life with your ring on my finger.”

Steve actually blushed for the first time in years. “I -- I would like that,” he stammered out, as the thought of Tony’s hand and ring on him raced through his mind. 

Tony kissed his cheek and put his head on his shoulder. “We’re going to have an amazing time at the hotel.”

“Is this how things are going to be between us forever?” Steve asked.

“Damn, I hope so, honey,” Tony replied. 

“I love you,” Steve said. Tony’s eyes shone brighter than the sun and Steve wanted to see that every day for the rest of his life. 

~~~~~

In the morning, Fury found Steve in the hospital chapel. 

Steve had sat through the night keeping vigil over Tony. No change, just Tony sleeping restlessly, attached to all the machines in the world. He wanted to sit closer, hold his hand or just touch him. But the sympathetic nurses said no, not yet. Tony desperately needed sleep.

And they kicked him out of Tony’s room that morning and suggested he stay away for an hour or two while the doctors examined Tony. A nurse had pointed him towards the chapel buried in the bowels of the hospital. Steve felt like a complete hypocrite for praying for Tony, given his own shaky faith in a higher power and Tony’s cheerful atheism. 

Fury slid into the pew next to Steve. “How is he?”

“In ICU.” Steve had to be honest with Fury, even if Fury probably knew everything he needed to know about Tony long before he ever came to talk to Steve. “They’re talking about another surgery -- something about internal bleeding -- and waiting to see if he stabilizes ....”

“Hmm. Didn’t think that he’d been that injured.”

Steve considered the broken armor piled up outside the operating room yesterday afternoon. Or the chaotic scene as doctors, nurses and aides rushed around Tony when the ambulance pulled up to the ER. Tony had been crushed by the collapsing building and the armor had barely saved his life. Steve took a deep breath and looked at his clasped hands.

“Interesting scheme, claiming that you’re Tony’s husband to get the doctors to talk to you.”

Fury was probing for information, looking for an opening to get Steve to reveal his secrets. The fact that Steve and Tony were married was a matter of obscure public record buried in a Nevada government database. But the truth of their marriage was not fodder for other people to pick apart. Fury could weaponize that information against them, angling for leverage to get Steve or Tony to do exactly what Fury wanted. 

He should check in with Tony’s care team. Steve turned to Fury. “I don’t lie.” He stood up and left Fury behind him, at a loss for words for once.

~~~~~

They didn’t want to operate on Tony again. The doctors were pinning their hopes on the tiny progress Tony had made over the morning. But they wanted to run more tests, take x-rays, do another MRI and an ultrasound after that.

Steve knew what they meant, had a sense what each test was but the acronyms washed over him as he looked down at Tony breathing slow and steady. 

“We aren’t promising miracles,” one doctor, a resident, said. “He’s more stable than this morning but that doesn’t mean Tony’s turned the corner yet.”

A nurse chimed in, “You can stay with him if you want while we take the tests.”

Steve heaved his bag over his shoulder and followed the gurney on the winding journey through the hospital. He waited in a small anteroom off the MRI room, thinking of how pale Tony looked under the battery of fluorescent lights. 

He shifted in the uncomfortable plastic chair and felt the tug of Tony’s wedding ring in his pocket. Someone had handed him a small bag with Tony’s jewelry shortly after they were admitted and Tony went off to his first surgery. He had put the MIT ring and the Rolex in his messenger bag, but slipped the wedding ring in his pocket to keep it close.

Tony was something else, he thought with a smile. One of a kind and the world would be poorer for losing him.

~~~~~

The Ultimates had been called out to take down a group of eco-terrorists attacking a chemical plant in god-knows-where Canada. Steve took over flying the quinjet to avoid the rest of the team. So that’s the reward he got for all his sacrifices, pain, hard work and being Captain America -- a job fighting acid monsters in rural Alberta in a future he was utterly lost in and hated, with a team that fought among themselves more than they fought the threats facing their world.

Except Tony.

Tony was currently doing lazy barrel rolls outside the jet as Steve looked on through the pilot side window. He’d given the armor a new paint job and, honestly, Steve loved the look. Red and gold and sleek engineering sparkling in the unfiltered sunlight. 

An hour later, he was staring at that armor dented and punctured by flying metallic debris. “This wasn’t in my plans today,” Tony joked. He’d taken off the helmet.

They were just killing time until the SHIELD handling team arrived to take over and process the terrorists. The team had retreated to the jet while Tony cooled his heels waiting with Steve. The weather had turned cold and drizzly, and Steve was miserable. He had uneasy feeling about the terrorists and their real aim. Tony didn’t disagree.

“What I want is a warm hotel room with champagne and blackout curtains,” Tony said. 

Leaning against a fire-darkened wall, Steve kicked at the weeds in the concrete as he turned over in his mind details from the fight.

“You’re brooding,” Tony accused.

Steve wasn’t going to respond. He’d worked with Tony long enough to respect him and to know when he was yanking Steve’s chain. There had to be something more to this attack.

Tony yawned and stretched as best he could in the armor. “I’m setting up a hotel reservation for us in Vancouver. If we leave now, we can even get a late night dinner in.”

“But the team --”

“You want to stick around for whatever SHIELD calls food? I can get a private jet and we can cut them loose.”

“Thor might want to come --”

Tony gave him one of those looks like he was about to bang his head against the wall. Hard. Several times. “Darling, this is an invite for just us two,” he finally said.

Steve didn’t know what they were to each other yet. Maybe friends. They didn’t have friends, not like other people, not like what Steve had before the war. Well, Tony had people who called themselves his friends, but they wanted what Tony generously gave out. Steve tended to want to kick those people in the teeth.

“How else am I going to get to you to stop thinking?” Tony teased. 

He snorted at that. They’d been having dinner every now and then for a while now, always initiated by Tony. The drizzle was shifting into rain and the idea of going back to New York with the bickering team held no appeal for Steve. For starters, Clint and Pietro were in a nasty snit about something that happened during the earlier fight. Tony was a better option. And as much as it pained him to admit it, Steve sort of had something resembling a good time when he spent time with Tony alone. 

“We need to check in with SHIELD before we go,” Steve agreed. 

In four hours, they were seated in a fancy steakhouse with a lovely view. Tony had managed to wrangle nice clothes for both of them. He was reviewing the wine list critically. “Don’t look at the prices,” he warned Steve.

“I wasn’t --”

“It’s all over your face that you think that dinner will cost more than what your father paid for a car before the war.” Tony shot him a look that dared Steve to contradict him.

That’s why Steve felt uneasy around Tony. If they were sparring, he’d be losing ground to Tony slowly, imperceptibly, but inevitably, and Steve didn’t like being in that position. He could tell how the rest of dinner would go -- Tony would order a couple of bottles of wine for himself and a craft beer for Steve, he’d point out a recommended dish on the menu and they’d talk and talk and Steve would order dessert that Tony would eat half of, saying he shouldn’t. And Steve would have a great time. He’d forget about the loneliness and the demands and all the bad decisions he’d made since the ice. 

The only difference tonight was that Tony ordered his own dessert. And somehow Steve was disappointed he wasn’t fighting Tony for the last bite of cheesecake on his own plate. Maybe the other difference was that Steve was finding Tony relaxed and laughing a pretty damn good sight to see. Steve hadn’t smiled this much in years. 

He balled up his hand on his thigh as Tony ordered a round of drinks and another cheesecake for Steve. “Not like we have anywhere to go,” he said with a wink to Steve.

No, they didn’t. They could sit here all night talking. Or until they were kicked out and Tony went to his room and Steve went to his, where he would spend the night staring at the ceiling feeling like he had made a misstep and wondering where it all went horribly wrong. That’s how it usually went.

Tonight was different. 

Steve had nearly finished his second cheesecake when Tony’s fork darted across the table to nab the last morsel on the plate. And Steve stabbed Tony’s hand with his fork defending his dessert, and drawing a tiny prick of blood. Stricken with guilt, Steve picked up Tony’s hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb.

They locked eyes, Steve held Tony’s hand and Tony’s lips curled into a smile. A couple of breaths later and the mood broke when the waiter interrupted with the check. Steve was left deeply annoyed and confused, like something special and rare had been taken from him and he couldn’t put words to what he’d lost.

Tony paid the bill. 

They walked back in uneasy silence to their rooms. Tony’s very presence weighed heavily on Steve, whose hand brushed against Tony’s. He missed the flirting and the glances like Tony wanted to eat him up. 

“So …. Good night?” Tony asked outside Steve’s room or Tony’s room. They had been booked in rooms across each other.

Neither of them moved one way or the other, caught in a delicate moment, a tipping point. Tony’s blue eyes sparkled and glowed and Steve wanted. Wanted in a way he hadn’t wanted someone before. Steve shifted his weight from one side to the other. He wanted to be overwhelmed by Tony, to hear his laughter in his ear, hands on his hips, to not think for once and just be. 

“Are you offering something?” Steve blurted out.

“Seduction is not your strong point, is it?” Tony replied, cocking his head to the side. 

Steve grabbed his shirt and reeled Tony in, kissing him like the world depended on it. Sloppy, no finesse at all, just clashing noses and teeth. But god, Steve felt like he was holding the tiger by the tail and a rush of pure adrenaline when Tony kissed him back, pushing him off-center and against the wall. Tony broke off the kiss, leaving Steve breathless and desperate.

“That’s how you do that, Steve.” 

Steve chased after Tony’s lips. But by then Tony was fumbling in his pocket for his key card. He kissed the tip of Steve’s nose. “What are you waiting for, darling?” Tony purred from the safety of his doorway.

He pushed himself off the wall. He’d be a different man if he walked into that room -- better or worse, Steve couldn’t tell. But worth the risk, even if being with Tony was going against everything he’d been taught back before the war.

“Well?” Tony urged.

“Shut up and get to work,” Steve growled in return. And Tony laughed at him, a beautiful laugh that washed over Steve and wiped away all the disappointments, sadness and misery. Carried away, Steve floated into Tony’s hotel room.

~~~~~

The only civilian in the room, Steve sat small and alone at the end of a large table in a beige conference room, surrounded by all the doctors, nurses and aides involved in Tony’s care. As far as Steve knew, Tony was still breathing, alive but not waking up. He’d been invited to this meeting because he should know what was going on with Tony.

Discussion of the familiar details of Tony’s medical history flowed around Steve, a tiny cog in the machinery keeping Tony alive -- the brain tumor, the chemo, the remission, the concussions, broken bones and sprained ankles, stretching all the way back to Tony’s first breath on earth. Then a doctor went over the diagnosis of crush syndrome to the nodding heads around the table. The next two days were critical for Tony -- he either pulled through or would have a rapid, irreversible decline. No more operations, unless his kidneys were failing or there was in fact internal bleeding or the possibility of compartment syndrome as well. They decided to keep him in a medically-induced coma.

“What does this mean for Tony?” Steve asked when the talking faded.

The leader of Tony’s care team, Dr. Rosenthal, replied, “We are not out of the woods yet, Captain Rogers. We will know in a day or two. Tony needs sleep and rest for now. We will be continually monitoring him --”

Tony’s life was in the hands of these people. Steve had to trust them. But he could feel everything that he had with Tony slipping through his fingers and he was helpless to stop it.

~~~~~

One of Tony’s lawyers, Ms. Vasudevan, tracked Steve down in ICU. An aide walked up, unhappy about them talking in the hallway, and made them go to a small consulting room just outside the unit. 

“How is Mr. Stark?” asked the lawyer as she set her briefcase down on the table. Steve was sitting on the couch, tiny for his size.

“Okay. They’re keeping him in a medically-induced coma for now.”

“Good. I’m here because Mr. Stark’s brother has filed an injunction over Mr. Stark’s care.”

Steve’s jaw tightened. “What does that mean?”

“Well, the short, non-legalese version is that Gregory Stark is claiming your marriage to Antonio Stark is a sham, and that he should awarded conservatorship of Mr. Stark and all his assets.”

“He’ll ruin Tony,” Steve snapped.

The lawyer nodded. “I understand your concern. Rest assured that Mr. Stark’s legal team is aware of the stakes involved and that we have a healthy understanding of Gregory Stark’s abilities and connections.”

“You have a copy of the marriage license, isn’t that enough?”

“Anyone can file a lawsuit regardless of the merits, Captain Rogers. The court sorts it out. This is moving faster than usual because of the timeliness of the event.”

Steve’s hand gripped the arm of the couch tightly enough that it began to warp the wood frame underneath the upholstery. “What now?”

“We’re going to fight this. The first hurdle is stopping the injunction. We filed a response already this morning outlining the facts of your marriage with documentation. That should be enough to dismiss Gregory’s request.”

“But?” 

The woman frowned. “If Gregory Stark’s lawyers find a friendly judge, we still might have a hearing. But, again, I stress that this is a process and a long road ahead -- anything can happen.”

Steve nodded. “What do you need from me now?”

“We’ll be in touch -- I might send some documents for your review this afternoon, confirming the date and location of your marriage. I understand that you and Mr. Stark have lived together since your marriage as well? Good.”

She closed her briefcase and stood up. “It’s a pleasure to be working with you, Captain Rogers. My husband’s grandfather fought at the Battle of the Bulge -- he told the family for years about seeing you in action.”

Steve shook her hand and answered the usual round of questions about the war vets he’d served with. He wasn’t surprised that Mr. Fielding had passed away a few years ago. The stories he heard were ending more and more that way.

At least he’d have something new to read that afternoon. 

~~~~~

Absorbed in his book and sitting next to Tony, Steve was blissfully unaware that the Ultimates had arrived at the hospital and were demanding to see him until his hospital liaison mentioned it. “Captain Rogers, some people are here to see Mr. Stark. Only one, I think, is on the approved list.”

Steve nodded to acknowledge that he’d heard her and kept reading.

“They’re insisting on seeing you -- Thor, Clint Barton --”

He sighed and closed his book. He wasn’t keen on leaving Tony’s side. “Where are they?”

“In the lobby. We’re not letting them upstairs.”

Steve conceded that it was helpful that his team had come in their work uniforms when he located them in the lobby. Thor was particularly noticeable. He was immediately greeted by a round of “How’s Tony?”

“He’s in the ICU,” Steve replied.

Janet had the grace to look vaguely concerned, while Thor had worry written all over him and Clint looked down right pissed. Then Jan threw yesterday’s Daily Bugle down on an end table. 

“What’s this, Cap?” 

Steve stared at the photograph prominent across the front page. It was of Tony in the ruins of the collapsed building, Steve kneeling and taking his gloves off to check his pulse. A large arrow pointed to a blow-up of Steve’s left hand with a screaming headline about Steve being secretly married. “Huh,” he said.

“Well -- what’s the deal? You’re not a guy that wears jewelry for the hell of it,” Clint persisted. “So are you married?”

“And to whom?” Jan asked as well, clearly annoyed to have been left out of the news.

Steve wrestled over whether to tell them. He had no inclination to. But he looked over at Thor and realized it wasn’t fair to keep that news away from him. And if he told Thor, he should tell everyone. “Tony. I’m married to Tony.”

The team froze in place. “Repeat that, please,” Jan requested. 

“I don’t think any of us heard that right,” Clint said.

“I’m married to Tony.”

“Steve, it’s great that you’re looking out for Tony -- I thought when we got here Gregory would have already descended like a vulture. But this is ridiculous,” Jan stated. “When I saw the paper, I thought it was some sort of weird thing with you, Bucky and Gail.”

Wanda shook her head. “You and Tony?”

Steve clenched his hand, the warm metal of his wedding ring pressing into his palm. “Tony and I are married. I wouldn’t make that up.”

The team shared looks of disbelief and muttered comments, like didn’t Steve live in a closet in the Triskelion? And could Tony even get married again? How could they hide this from the team? Steve didn’t give a shit if they believed him or not. 

Thor finally broke the stalemate. “When were you going to tell us, friend Steven?”

“We weren’t.”

Thor’s face fell. The others glared at him. Jan jumped into the diplomatic breach. “Okay. You must have had your reasons. Now fill us in on Tony’s condition.”

~~~~~

That afternoon, another of Tony’s lawyers informed Steve that a hearing date had been scheduled for Gregory’s injunction. Gregory and his lawyers had apparently called in a favor or two. Tony’s lawyers needed Steve on hand, in any event. 

The lawyer handed Steve a pad of paper. “Please jot down a few notes about your relationship with Mr. Stark. Anything you think we should know. Or anything you think the opposing side might ask.”

Steve sat watching Tony with the pad of paper and a pen on his lap. The machines beeped and hummed around them. Steve knew that he shouldn’t be getting his hopes up. Tony was breathing better now, easier, with a little bit of a wheeze, a hint of color back in his face. 

Tony would have a lot to say about the people who didn’t believe that they could possibly be married. God, Steve missed his laugh so much.

He had a task to do. But Steve didn’t know quite how to describe exactly when he and Tony started making a connection. He’d been so angry and lost and caught up in bad decisions and constant disappointment that time bled together in a blur. He moved through the world missing and mourning people, places and things that everyone around him had already grieved and moved on from. And honestly, there were a lot of things from that time he didn’t want to remember.

Steve sifted through painful memories that he could recall in perfect detail like they had happened only a few moments ago. When had he started to think of Tony as someone separate from the others, someone special? Must have been that night early on when Tony was struggling to pull the Ultimates together as a team.

It had been a long day of arguing and fighting over petty, meaningless things. Tony dragged Steve outside onto a Triskelion balcony, insisted that they had to talk. A glass of amber liquid in one hand, he leaned over the railing next to Steve. 

“We need to work on team building,” he stated, plain and simple. 

Steve’s life was a stream of terrible blows, constant letdowns and shattered dreams. Tony was the most alien thing in his life, besides the weird science of their teammates. He did not understand or even have the beginnings of understanding the man. He looked over at Tony as the setting sun behind them lit a halo around Tony’s dark hair. He had loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. 

But he was not wrong about the team and that piqued Steve’s interest. “Team building?” Steve prompted.

“We’re stronger together. Not divided. We should talk more. My admin could --”

“Dinner. Tonight,” Steve commanded. He had no idea why he said that, or what he was even thinking by saying this.

Tony gave him a long, considering look. And Steve’s heart beat fast, a feeling he hadn’t had in years, as if something would go horribly wrong if Tony said no. Steve wasn’t the type to spend the night crying in his pillow, but a Precor machine in the training room would be paying the price if he didn’t have dinner that night with Tony.

“Sure, since you put it that way,” Tony finally replied. “But I get to pick the restaurant.”

~~~~~

That night, Thor came back to the hospital to sit with Steve. After an hour Thor was restless and hungry and they wrangled a table in the hospital cafeteria. 

“I approve,” Thor said after going through a mound of food.

“Approve?”

“Your marriage to Tony. You are a renowned warrior, freed from an ice curse, and he is a handsome and smart man possessing great wealth.”

“Huh.” Steve didn’t quite see it that way.

“My people would have made great stories about you both -- and your wedding would have been an event everyone would have wished to attend.”

Steve caught the glint in Thor’s eyes. “Point taken.”

“And?” Thor arched an eyebrow.

“Maybe we’ll invite you to the anniversary party.”

~~~~~

The next morning the doctors told Steve that they were going to take Tony out of the medically-induced coma that day. He stood ramrod straight in the hallway in ICU listening to adults who looked as though they had just graduated from kindergarten explain to him his husband’s current situation in dry, medical terms. Still touch and go, but it was time to see if Tony had healed enough.

Steve couldn’t go to the hearing now.

He sat in his usual chair, his courtroom suit tugging in the wrong places and he couldn’t get comfortable. Tony slept peacefully just a couple of steps away.

Thor arrived, wearing jeans and a shirt and fewer pointy accessories than usual. He had been more than pleased to find that he could visit Tony in ICU. “Captain, I am surprised to see you. Should you not be in court now?”

They were large men in a delicate area and the doctors, nurses and aides danced around them. “They said Tony could wake up today.” 

“Ah, that is indeed good news.”

“I can’t go to court.”

Thor shook his head. “You told me that you were needed there to defend Tony from his brother.”

“The lawyers --” Steve hung his head. The lawyers could need him to testify. He glanced back through the window at Tony. 

Thor put one of his bear-sized hands on Steve’s shoulder. “I will wait for Tony. You have a war to fight. If you lose that war, will it help Tony more?”

He swallowed. He had to be here for Tony. To let Tony know that he was keeping up their side of the bargain. To show that he was not alone. Steve had promised.

If Gregory prevailed, Tony would lose everything. 

“If Tony wakes up -- you’ll tell him that I will be back?”

Thor squeezed Steve’s shoulder. “Go. Win. I will not fail you nor Tony. He is my friend.”

~~~~~

On his way to the hearing, Steve thought back to that last night before the accident.

Returning to the Tower after a miserable day in the Triskelion, he found Tony opening a bottle of wine. “Hard day?” he asked as he handed a glass to Steve.

Steve didn’t get Tony’s fine wines and how Tony talked about the notes of blackberries or elderflower with hints of oak or the mouth feel and all that fancy stuff. The wine tasted like wine. But it made Tony happy and anything that made Tony happy made him happy too. He sipped and tried not to make a face at the taste. 

“No,” was Steve’s only response.

Tony fell asleep while talking about something or other that happened in the office that day. He lay snoring on Steve’s lap, his head tucked in that perfect spot and Steve’s arm around his shoulders. The fire in the gas fireplace hissed and flickered and the terrible ball game on the television droned on and on. 

His hand idly combed through Tony’s hair as he thought about how much they both lost over their lives. It struck Steve that he would kill without a single thought anyone who threatened to take all of this away from him.

He snorted. Ridiculous thought, but it was true.

“Captain? We’re at the courthouse.”

~~~~~

The courtroom was one of those modern affairs with a drop ceiling and laminate furniture and pale, windowless walls. Steve would have felt more comfortable in a more stately room, like those he remembered from the movies he’d watched growing up. He eyed the chairs on the defendant's side and wondered if he’d be able to sit there for the hours that the hearing would take.

“You won’t have to testify unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Ms. Vasudevan said. “Because of the sensitive timing of the issue, the judge wants to go ahead with a hearing on the injunction.”

Gregory was not seated at the plaintiff’s table. He was in the first row of the spectators’ gallery, where he had spread out over a few chairs with his laptop and papers. A man at work with better places to be, but not able to totally leave the whole matter in the hands of his lawyers. He must desperately want to get his hands on Tony and Tony’s business and Tony’s everything.

Steve turned and stared straight ahead while Ms. Vasudevan and Tony’s other lawyers conferred. He hadn’t felt this nervous in years, even counting the time in the ice. He had a vague sense of the process and knew that all he had to do was follow the lawyers. He also suppressed his sudden urge to strangle Gregory.

Tony’s lawyers had underestimated the drive and ingenuity of Gregory’s lawyers and how fast they could amass a mountain of evidence. Their single point of argument was the marriage was sham concocted by SHIELD and the U.S. government conspiring to keep a worried and concerned Gregory away from his grievously ill brother so they could seize his assets if he died. The judge would be righting a wrong against the very values of the American way of life if she found for the defense.

Steve balled his hands into fists and bit his tongue until he bled as witness after witness testified that no one had ever heard that Tony Stark had ever so much as batted his eyes in Steve’s direction, much less had a relationship that could have led Tony to marry him. They told stories of Tony’s drinking, outrageous behavior, his sex tapes, the parade of Maxim cover models, the rumored orgies, all his faults on flagrant display. They repeated the same theme over and over, that it simply wasn’t possible that Captain America, Steve Rogers, the legendary WWII soldier, could possibly have lowered himself to Tony’s level.

Steve cringed at the mention of his less-than-kind words about Tony’s activities, from when he didn’t know Tony at all. He’d give anything to take those words back.

“Tony’s not like that now -- in the past, maybe,” Steve protested in the hallway during a court recess. He paced back and forth, angry tears in his eyes. The recess had been called when he snapped off the arm of the chair he’d been sitting in with one hand and part of the defense table with the other. 

Ms. Vasudevan replied calmly, “We’ll have a chance to present our side. I have affidavits --”

“They had people, real live people repeating the worst filth about Tony. I know he isn’t an angel. But he’s one of the best men I’ve ever known.”

The lawyers exchanged meaningful looks. “Captain Rogers, if you testify, you’ll be cross-examined by the other side,” Ms. Vasudevan said.

That couldn’t be worse than anything that Steve had already faced. “Try me,” he said.

Steve answered Ms. Vasudevan’s questions steadily — when was their first date, how would he describe their wedding, when did he move in with Tony — easy, fact-based questions. She even brought up the Daily Bugle front page and asked about wearing his wedding ring in the Captain America costume. 

Then the defense had their turn. The lead lawyer, the very picture of a top New York litigation attorney, swallowed as he stood up. _That’s right, you fucker, be nervous_ , Steve thought. He sat up straighter, radiating Captain America the legend in every muscle. This wasn’t so much different than fighting a Nazi or a science terrorist. The rhythm and the intimidation was all the same. 

He’d fought to save the Earth. He was going to fight harder to save Tony. 

“Tell me, Mr. Rogers, if you are so much in love with Tony, why don’t you acknowledge the relationship in public?”

“We’re private people.”

“But why didn’t you inform Tony’s only living relative, his brother Gregory? Unless you were hiding --”

“Objection,” Ms. Vasudevan stated.

Steve held up his hand. “I’ll answer that. We didn’t inform Gregory because, while Tony may keep in touch with his brother, they are not close.”

“Or you are attempting to defraud Antonio Stark. That is why you are keeping this so-called relationship secret.”

“Objection.”

“Withdrawn. Captain Rogers, you claim that you were married in Las Vegas on the spur of the moment, but none of your friends knew you had eloped. Or that you are supposedly living with Antonio Stark.”

“We keep our private lives private. Tony and I informed his lawyers and SHIELD HR. No one else needed to know.”

“That sounds very much like you are hiding something. That you don’t want to tell anyone you’re married.”

Steve drew himself up in his chair, tall and ramrod straight. He leaned forward and the lawyer actually stepped backwards. “Tony Stark has saved our world many times over both as Iron Man and through his work with Stark International. He doesn’t owe anyone anything about his private life. Tony is one of the best men I have ever known, and I am honored that he agreed to become my husband.”

He usually wasn’t much for talking, but now the words just flowed. “People have no problem telling terrible stories about a man who has been nothing but generous and supportive to me. A man who told me that we are stronger together. The man I fell in love in -- the fighter, genius, philanthropist, teammate. I love him, he loves me, and I’m his husband and he is mine. That’s all anyone needs to know. I promised to stay with him, through thick and thin, in sickness and health. And right now he is fighting for his life. I should be there by his side, not sitting here listening to people who doubt our marriage.”

Steve held his head high and proud as he returned to the defense table.

“I’ll contact you as soon as we hear anything,” Ms. Vasudevan told him when the hearing ended. “You’re free to go back to the hospital.”

~~~~~

Steve rushed back to the hospital to find that Tony had not wakened yet. He pulled up a chair next to Tony’s bed after changing out of his suit.

“Did you prevail?” Thor asked.

“We won’t know until the judge issues a ruling.” Despite being warned not to, Steve held Tony’s hand, as gently as he could, his thumb brushing the back of it.

“It is shameful what Tony’s brother did.”

Steve sighed. “He wouldn’t be Gregory if he didn’t do those things.” 

Soon Tony began to move his head back and forth, like he was fighting to wake up. Steve’s heart leapt as Tony opened his eyes. “Hiya, beautiful,” he slurred.

“Tony,” Steve whispered raptly. “You’re up.” 

“What’s that about Greg?”

Steve reached for the call button. The nurses should know Tony was awake. “It’s nothing.”

“Your craven brother sued Steve in court claiming that your marriage was a fraud.”

“Oh boy, that’s a new one …” 

A team of doctors and nurses streamed in to check Tony, evicting Steve and Thor from the room. They stood in the hallway where Steve found some comfort in being able to watch them through the window.

Thor thumped his back. “He waited for you to come back.”

“The doctors said he would wake up today.”

Thor only gave Steve a knowing look in response.

Later, when everyone and Thor had gone away, Tony made Steve tell him every detail of the case. “I hope you punched Greg out after the hearing,” Tony said. He was propped up slightly in the bed, still hooked to monitoring devices, but the color returned to his face. He was going to be transferred to a regular room in a few hours.

“Your lawyers warned me not to.”

“Well, I’m awake now so the injunction means nothing. I bet we win though. If we don’t, I’ll just have to marry you all over again until it sticks.”

“Only when you’re better.” Steve said, leaning in to kiss Tony’s forehead. 

“I could send Gregory pictures from every single wedding and he’d grit his teeth over each everyone.”

Steve was beyond happy to sit there and listen to Tony plot revenge by wedding photo against his brother. Tony was alive, that’s all that mattered.

~~~~~

A couple of months after the accident, life was relatively back to normal. Tony remained off the active duty roster until he could find a doctor to clear him. He was getting antsy and pestered Steve about getting back into action.

“What are your plans today?” Tony asked, draping himself over Steve’s back as Steve read the papers. He kissed Steve’s ear. “Afternoon free?” He ran his fingers along Steve’s back.

Steve shivered, as Tony knew he would. “What do you have planned?”

“I couldn’t resist -- we’re going to Barcelona.”

“Now?” So that’s why Tony wanted to know if Steve was free.

“This afternoon,” Tony said. “I straightened out everything at work and with SHIELD. No one will miss us.” He’d packed Steve’s bags, unearthed his passport, and made all the arrangements. 

Steve folded up his newspaper. He couldn’t deny Tony anything, especially when he looked irresistible in his pajamas and teasing smile. “Barcelona?”

“It sounded good last night, so I went with it.”

Since their wedding, Tony and Steve had lived by three rules: one, always have each other’s back and put no one else above the other; two, Steve was Steve at home; and three, Steve should let Tony buy him a money clip, even if it was a specially commissioned Tiffany piece decorated with a jeweled Captain America shield.

“Fine. Barcelona.” Standing up, Steve put his arms around Tony’s waist and breathed in his cologne, a scent buried so deep in him that he could only think of Tony when he smelled it. “Thinking about that money clip --”

“Yes?”

“I’m okay with it if you buy me that ridiculous fancy-ass thing.” 

Tony laughed and ruffled Steve’s hair. “Darling, I’ve already ordered you one.”


End file.
